TV Discussion Fisto's Disco: The LACWAC Social Thread

I feel like there saying visa during the song.

 

I just realized how many locked threads there are on the tv forum go look for your self go to the last page and keep clicking tell you get through all the locked threads.

 

Spoiler: Gotham 1.05 Viper Review

Whew. Gotham is improving with every episode and Viper is certainly the strongest chapter yet. The storyline that holds more promise than anything so far is the potential corruption within Wayne Enterprises. There was a logical understanding that Mr. and Mrs. Wayne were killed by the gangster elements of Gotham who found their philanthropic habit to be a threat to their continued existence and legitimacy. But to spin the narrative towards the idea that it is Wayne Enterprises itself that knocked off its founders for their own nefarious purposes is an incredibly intriguing one. The storyline gets an extra boost from actually giving Bruce something logical to do besides saying “I’m Batman!” Just kidding. But it does provide him with a logical narrative that’s been missing since the pilot. What isn’t working is the continued focus on Gordon and Bullock’s “Crime of the Week” solving, which frankly feels more forced than anything else. It’s an inherently problematic continuance, considering that this series is built around Gordon as the primary protagonist.

I would hazard around to the reality that it’s quite difficult to give a **** about any of these characters to be perfectly honest. Outside of a couple moments here and there, only Bruce is a character to whom we can truly have any empathy and perhaps by some extension Selina Kyle. But one character’s parents were murdered before his eyes and the other is a street orphan who, as it’s been implied, has been severely abused. For no one else is there an active emotional connection. And everyone suffers for it, not just Gordon. But to begin with Gordon himself, what drives him? What is his true self? How does he feel about the constant battle against the corruption that is so ubiquitous in Gotham? Are there times when he himself wants to just dip into the corruption and make his life easier? We. Don’t Know. And that’s a problem. Same thing for villains like Fish Mooney. She has to be more than a underworld gangster with proclivities for stripping dance contests. There has to be some complexity there, somewhere. Screw the monsters and gangsters of the week and give me a couple episodes just about these characters, how they think, the contradictions with themselves. And then come back and give me all of the villainous plots. The place might slow down, but Gotham as a whole will be all the better for it.

So, “Viper”. It’s a new, hip drug that’s hitting the youngsters and it’s basically steroid on steroids. But it has consequences, considering you have to eat milk and cheese to replace calcium, which the drug eats up. (Really?) Outside of that eyeroll-worthy threat of side effects, if you use Viper and are also lactose-intolerant, apparently you’re ****** unless you can grab some Lactaid milk or something. Anyhow, Gordon and Bullock actually do their jobs and begin to look for the supplier of the moronic drug named Stan Topolski. In that search, they discover that the the drug is going to dispersed cannon style (that would have been fun, actually) at a Wayne Enterprises event. The chase is basically dull after that because Stan is such an idiot and we all know we really don’t need more idiots in this world. Nevertheless, there is an incredible improvement in the show with the introduction of the drug Viper. It’s a precursor to the drug Venom that Bane takes before he becomes as big as we all remember him to be. This is exactly what Gotham really needs a lot more of. Bring in plot points and characters that are relevant to the overall narrative of Batman but that feel germane to the story that Gotham is specially trying to tell. Viper has so many different connections to the Batman lore, but its specific usage here feels like Gotham is becoming more and more comfortable in its own skin.

The underground war between Mooney and Maroni for now feels like an extremely long quiet before the storm and unfortunately for now it’s hinging on the character of Lisa. No offense to actress Mackenzie Leigh, but Lisa is so dull it feels like the show is just stretching that story way past where it needs to be. And if Maroni is dumb enough to fall for her opera music trick, well then, his name is close enough. Outside of the new potential of the corruption within Wayne Enterprises itself, Cobblepot remains the show’s saving grace. He is utterly fantastic and his character’s shady trajectory is immensely enjoyable. For a minute there, it even seemed like he was in true danger. Then you realize that of course they’re not going to kill off the Penguin, but the tension created within that sequence is an improvement and hopefully a positive sign of things to come.

7.4/10

Spoiler: Homeland 4.04 Iron in the Fire Review

Iron in the Fire is another solid episode of the espionage elements in Homeland, which is by and large the best part of the show. Still taking place in Islamabad, the title refers to our young medical student Aayan, who is part of a major reveal at the end of the episode. As our protagonists learn thanks to Fara’s much improved spy craft, much to their chagrin and shock, Hassim Haqqani is seemingly still alive, grabbing medicine from Aayan and embracing him. We’re not entirely sure if that’s still the case and it isn’t a Haqqani look-alike, but that seems unlikely. For now, it’s being spun as a plot by the Pakistani Intelligence Services, but just as easily as the entire plot was turned on its head twice already this season, that could easily change. As for Aayan, I have quite a difficult time believing as of now that he is a terrorist himself. That seems far too unlikely in comparison to everything else that has happened so far. But it adds complexities beyond him being the poor survivor of a bombing gone wrong, which is always welcome.

Perhaps Carrie doesn’t have a moral compass and this job isn’t one that requires one in the first place. But her relative lack of compassion isn’t going to help her much in the long run. Her own subordinate whose job she took is having her followed, even though she escaped that detail. “She’s good,” he grudgingly admits. But when it comes to Aayan, it becomes even more difficult. As Quinn rightfully points out, asylum is not an easy thing to pull off for Aayan, especially graduation from an English medical school. “I know that,” Carrie coolly replies, overlooking his concern for her without batting an eyelash. Fara shares the same concerns about Aayan after it’s revealed that Haqqani is alive but Carrie doesn’t respond to her either. War has this unfortunate tendency to remove humanity from the entire proceedings and eventually survival and the mission are the only things that remain relevant. The conversation between Carrie and Quinn on this very issue was phenomenal and I would easily rank it as one of the top ten scenes in he entire series. It begins with a nice circling back to the beginning of Season 3, where Quinn accidentally shot the kid he was trying to protect earlier. “Let yourself off the hook,” Carrie implores. “At least I learned his name,” he utters quietly in response. “You saved lives,” she adds. “Maybe I made more enemies,” he retorts. As Carrie’s frustration mounts, Quinn’s relentlessness continues. “Why are you telling me this?” she asks irritably. “Because you need to hear it,” he responds quietly, noting how perhaps killing people by remote control has desensitized her to the whole process. It’s a meta note that pivots Carrie with real life individuals who commit drone strikes and the eventual toll that takes on their psyche. There’s only so much Carrie can ignore and justify, even if she does apologize to Quinn and understands how difficult it was for him to be there.

Saul is playing an interesting role here, clearly trying to avoid going home to New York and loving the spy game far too much to just leave it all behind. He meets a former acquaintance of his that, for whatever reason, goes by the name of Bunny, which sounds like it should be the name for a stuffed bunny in the hands of a toddler that hasn’t learned the meanings of literalism yet. Anyhow, the most shocking thing to come out of Bunny’s mouth is that he, like many who are around him, believe 9/11 to be an inside job done at the behest of the American-Israeli alliance as pretext to launch a war against the Muslim world. He says it so matter-of-factly that it feels more like a discussion of the best coffee houses in Islamabad and not one of the most shocking terrorist events in recent memory. Nor does he have a positive outlook on the war in their neighboring Afghanistan. “You have lost,” he notes somberly to Saul. From his point of view, the Americans were going to be driven out of Afghanistan like Russia and the Taliban would dictate the terms. It’s a stark look at geopolitics from a neighboring nation to Afghanistan and a sobering one. As that charming meeting is over, he meets another young ISI official, rankling him sufficiently enough about Sandy Bachman that Saul essentially sets in motion the departure of man who orchestrated Sandy’s demise. Carrie and crew are on him but they weren’t close enough to listen to everything he said. In a harrowing sequence, Quinn gets the information from his apartment while he sleeps. As he moves, so do they despite Quinn’s objections. Just then, Fara calls with potential confirmation that Haqqani is alive.

The ambassador’s husband, played by Mark Moses from AMC’s Mad Men, is basically a similar figure to Duck Phillips. This isn’t Homeland’s fault, considering that the character is so fundamentally weak as that’s what he needed to be, but seeing Moses playing basically the same role (unless it proves different down the road), isn’t quite helpful. But I am enjoying that they quickly are uncovering the mole who leaked the information to the audience and not drawing it out. Cards are being played out quickly here and it doesn’t look like his handler Tasneem is going to let him out anytime soon. She knows what she’s doing. Him being married to Ambassador Boyd is a great twist that just intertwines this season so much more and I’m loving it. The wait is now to see how all of this becomes even more intricate before spilling out in horrific fashion. I can just see Carrie begin furious when she inevitably finds out but also being impressed with Tasneem and trying to use this to her advantage. But I’m jumping ahead of myself here. This is going to get ugly and soon at that.

The ending scene was phenomenally uncomfortable. Aayan comes to meet Carrie, initially terrified that they weren’t leaving immediately. But Carrie calms him down before she gets the couch ready for him to sleep on. She lays out white sheets in what is obvious foreplay before she quietly leans in and kisses him. “Is that okay?” she asks quietly and Aayan as presumed doesn’t object. “Trust me,” Carrie at one point breathes before scene cuts off the two of them getting into the mode of sex. There was a beautiful moment beforehand where Carrie just looks into a mirror. Claire Danes is phenomenal as she just tries to come to grips with what she is doing. For a quiet, quick moment there’s a sense of melancholia in her eyes before she opens the door. It’s a wonder that that melancholia exists in the first place.

Great/Not So Great Moments Not Mentioned Above:

+“The worst is over.” Like that ever works
+“I don’t have a garden.” Of course Saul. You don’t have time for that.
+“Anything for you, Carrie.”
+I love the spy music that’s so reminiscent of Season 1
+The 2-3 days timeline that Carrie gives Aayan is adding a nice ticking time bomb sort of element to the proceedings.
+Carrie’s subordinate gets her information on our comm guy, whose name is Farhad Ghazi. Shady.
+“You never ask.”

-Islamabad, all things considered, is a fairly beautiful city. I get thatHomeland is for a plethora of reasons shooting in Cape Town, South Africa and they just show the portions of the city important enough for espionage missions, but some overhead shots of the city at the very least would be nice.

9/10

Spoiler: Boardwalk Empire 5.07 Friendless Child Review

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“My fellow citizens, we are at war. Not against a foreign potentate. Not against a bloodthirsty despot. We are at war against an army of hoodlums who have made our streets unsafe for decent people. Fear, intimidation, violence – these are the tools of this nefarious scoundrel known as the modern-day criminal. From the Lower East Side to Harlem, Brooklyn to New Jersey, stretching as far south as Atlantic City. Bloodshed and mayhem are the currency of these reprobates, thugs, and bootleggers as they struggle for control of our nation’s streets. Both Governor Roosevelt and I remain committed to this battle, which we must and will win.”​

​

There are so many of us who are friendless children, whether literally or figuratively. But at some moment in all of our lives, we want to forego the world around us and just become children; when the world wasn’t as stifling and we felt so much freedom to just explore, to just be children. And there are times right when we want to become children or are that we don’t have someone in whom we can confide. We become alone and it is that isolation that utterly breaks us down, tearing us apart over and over and over again until there is absolutely nothing left, just our outer shell. And no matter how hard that shell tries, it cannot always hide the hollowness that grows inside without someone whom we know we can rely on to take this journey of life with us.

The episode begins with a montage accompanied with the same static radio sound that closed out last week’s sensationalist hour with public officials notifying the American public of the gangster wars that have taken over the streets with relentless pursuits of violent action after violent action. To us, who have been given a historical fiction narrative into this grimy world of Boardwalk Empire, it’s a different window into the lives of those Prohibition gangsters. But for the average citizens of the United States at that time, it was a terrifying experience to live through day in and day out. Out on the street, in the barber shop, in the telephone booth. Violence and chaos were the true kings and queens of the day, terrorizing their subjects with an unnervingly impressive cruelty. And as the camera turns towards the actual gangsters themselves, the drumming music becomes louder and louder and louder.

The gangster standoff begins with a beautiful shot of the darkened cars of Luciano & Co. contrasting with the lights of Nucky’s barricade. But the play out is anything but beautiful. It is a bloody one and undoubtedly it was a decisive win for the Luciano camp. Mickey Doyle meets his end at last with a bullet in his throat (the irony is palpable here), right after he had his sweetest moments with Nucky of perhaps the entire series. Archie bites it, his battlefield-like tendency to cut ears off of his victims no longer in play. And Nucky, perhaps in the most selfless thing he has ever done, gives away everything for the sake of his nephew, who was abducted in return for Nucky’s dirty play earlier. Atlantic City, anything in Chicago, Cuba, he gives it all with the promise of wanting twenty-four hours to kill Maranzano as per Luciano’s request. As if we needed more reminder of how far Nucky’s fallen, he gets on his knees, astutely parallel as to how he had forced Luciano to do the same in Season 1 & 4. As the feds find a warrant for tax evasion, the scene quickly cuts to Eli and his company, stabbing Maranzano to death right before he shoots him in the head. Nucky can, perhaps for the first time, clearly see the road ahead. Whether or not he actually sees anything at all is another question entirely.

The most heartbreaking shot of Boardwalk Empire may very well be thirteen-year-old Gillian Darmody, her wide eyes sunk with a sort of crushing depression. Gretchen Mol’s voiceover is phenomenal as she tries to implore her once savior Nucky to come back and rescue her from that hellhole of an asylum that has become a fate worse than death. A menacing shadow arises over her, perhaps a signal that the doctor who is attuned to harvesting organs is arriving. Gillian as a child is quiet, a poor orphan who escapes an abusive orphanage and finds refuge with Nucky and his beloved, kind wife Mabel. More than anything else in the universe, young Gillian wanted to build her library, beginning with Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, a possession that she was so, so proud to actually have bought with her own money. It’s heartbreaking to see the pride in her eyes when Nucky finds her signature on the inside of the book. While Nucky wants to send her back, Mabel argues that she should stay there, out of compassion if nothing else. “They tell you your whole life is sin,” young Gillian says mournfully about her orphanage, “that you can never wash it away.” Nucky feels uncomfortable about keeping her there, noting how they couldn’t save everyone and everything. “They why save anything at all?” Mabel thunders righteously and she has a point. If Nucky can’t even help this poor orphan girl who’s beyond an age when children are generally adopted, then what good is the sheriff’s badge he wears so proudly? Gillian runs away, much to the dismay of a distraught Mabel. And Nucky will find her assumedly in the series finale, giving her away to the Commodore and sealing their fates in the act of ascension.

And as the final curtains close, Nucky is more friendless than ever before. All he can do is stare out at the thundering waves crashing against the beaches of the Boardwalk, wondering perhaps at the end of it all what Mabel truly expected him to be. Perhaps she wanted a man who would at the end come to the aid of a poor orphan girl standing on the Boardwalk, the frigid sea wind willowing about her hair. Perhaps she wanted a man who would take a friendless child under his wing, a girl who wanted to build her own library because she wanted to travel around the world in eighty days with a friend in tow.

Great Moments Not Mentioned Above:

+“We are playing a game of chess.” Aren’t we all?
+Nucky to Joe Harper, trying to help him escape the fate of Jimmy and the others: “Go be a plumber, a bookkeeper, or the President.”
+“Me and you together…”
+Margaret is great in every little scene. Is it too much to ask for her to get a spinoff of her own that primarily deals with Margaret and her taking on Wall Street or something?
+“It’s rude to ask personal questions.”
+The choice to pair Maranzano’s stabbing sequence with the throbbing music was outstanding.
+When Eli meets his son, he notes somberly that if William had achieved something in life, then it would all be worth it. This might be the finest Eli moment yet.
+The mural of American democracy behind Eli after he met his son is so palpable in its irony, it hurts.

9/10

Spoiler: Doctor Who 8.09 Flatline Review

Holy cow, that was an awesome episode. Series 8 has clearly gotten over its earlier hiccups as it’s now delivering one solid, phenomenal outing after another. While Flatline wasn’t as sublime as last week’s episode, this was the best monster episode of the entire season. To be fair, it wasn’t that much of a battle to begin with, as this season has largely been about character work and quieter, more psychological monsters that torment individuals. But withFlatline, we get straight up monsters who can converge from a 2-D to 3-D format instantly and it’s terrifying. Doctor Who has a great track record with monsters created from the simplest of concepts and the ultimately named the Boneless are another great addition to Who lore. This hour is the deconstruction of a monster, an alien so out there it’s not even three-dimensional. Yet even more so this hour is about Clara assuming the role of the Doctor and coming to grips with how difficult it is to be the one with the Sonic Screwdriver and the decisions at hand. It’s emulative of Season 2’sFear Her, but it works better perhaps not just because the production values have gotten better, but also because this is the fourth consistent episode that primarily focuses on the relationship between the Doctor and Clara over everything else.

The opening sequence is terrifying and it reminded me of the clowns on floating Britain in a horrible sort of way (good for the show, though). The shot of the man just disappearing is excellent and then Douglas Mackinnon just lets his camera rest as his phone just bounces back and forth. It’s a quiet, eerie moment right before the camera moves towards an eerie spot on the wall, revealing the man’s face etched into the wall. The TARDIS has it usual quacks and arrives in Bristol, only a hundred or so miles off of where they needed to be so Clara could have her lunch with Danny. As it turns out, there’s something that’s draining the energy from the TARDIS and its exterior is shrinking. The Doctor climbs inside just in time for Clara to come back and find a Mini, Snack Size TARDIS. He gives her a swanky camera/communication chip for easier contact. It doesn’t take them long to find some trouble and in this case it’s puzzling. She finds a guy named Rigsy doing community service, who informs her of this mystery while wondering who she is. “I’m the Doctor,” she announces excitedly, “Doctor Oswald.” So Rigsy and Dr. Oswald go on the hunt for what is making all of these people painted on the murals disappear. They find themselves locked in an apartment where the handle has been flattened and the kind police officer who was helping them out is terrifyingly dragged into the carpet. It’s a terrifying scene that shows how the Boneless remove dimensionality as they come closer and closer to their prey.

The police apparently haven’t done anything about the disappearances and Rigsy makes a meta point about how that specific estate really doesn’t mean much to the police. Doctor Who has never shied away from making larger points and I love the implication here that the police just left this poorer neighborhood be ransacked because it just didn’t matter as much in the grand scheme of things. Clara gets more in tuned with the guest group of the week, which frankly is the episode’s weakest point. Only Rigsy manages to imbue some semblance of a layered personality while Feston just comes off across as an irate arse who just despises most people under his thinly veiled contempt for the community service workers. There’s a racist undertone as well, as he notes how the scum were the ones who were sacrificed for the greater good. It’s a point that riles the Doctor, but more on that in a bit. As it turns out, the Boneless were from another dimension, preying on the human beings as they quickly evolve into three-dimensional beings. There really isn’t given a reason as to what they’re doing beyond their desire for quick evolution, and the story frankly really doesn’t need it. The hour’s packed enough and not every predator needs multiple explanations as to why it’s finding its prey. The Doctor and Clara for a moment believe that the monsters may just be misunderstood, but that has happened multiple times already this season and for once they’re not. They’re predators.

The Doctor and Clara’s relationship continues to be absolutely fascinating. This time around it’s Clara in the shoes of the Doctor, the one who must be the fearless leader of the group, the one who holds the Sonic Screwdriver, the one who must make those life and death decisions. But her solution to the monsters isn’t one that the Doctor tells her. It’s certainly true that she takes the Doctor’s philosophy of using your enemy’s weakness against them, but Clara takes agency into her own hands. It’s her ingenuity, her intelligence, and her strength that saves the day. Even though the Doctor is the one who does the final hurrah with the Sonic Screwdriver, it’s Clara who gets them there. She has to recognize that it’s her agency that would save the day and it’s primarily because of her relationship with this Doctor that she recognizes that fact. There’s perhaps no better moment that encapsulates their relationship than the moment where she tosses the Sonic Screwdriver to him through the air and he grabs it to get them all to victory. Yet at the end there is a bit of childish joy in Clara that her tenure as the Doctor was successful, even though uniquely the Doctor is the one who reminds her of the innocents lost. Feston makes a cruel observation of how the scum were the ones that died in the tunnels, a “for the greater good” observation that the Doctor is rankled by. It’s perhaps a more evil note of what he’s been saying so often this season, but to see him so rankled by what he’s been saying himself is an interesting note to play. Has he been exaggerating his philosophy this season to make a larger point or is truly something that is forcing him to think about what he’s been saying himself? Or is it a mix of both? Perhaps something else entirely? “You were an exceptional Doctor, Clara, but goodness has nothing to do with it.” he notes somberly with notes of pride and resolution mixed in.
At the beginning of the season, I was hopeful that this pairing would be more fruitful than the previous one and it’s paying off with aplomb. Clara and Capaldi are truly tailor made for each other and it’s such a treat to see them evolving together and because of each other. Jamie Matheison’s script is phenomenal in this regard and almost everything else is executed to perfection. Considering his script last week and this episode, they should keep him on retainer for basically forever. Mackinnon’s direction is absolutely flawless and he smartly keeps the Boneless in the shadows as much as possible, which allows them to be as terrifying as possible without being overbearing and silly. Much to his credit, Mackinnon is amazing at capturing the atmosphere of the settings around the characters and keeping that in mind, the decision to take the characters into the tunnels was a brilliant one. There’s humor expertly mixed in, with the greatest moment when Danny calls Clara and she’s with Rigsy, trying to escape the Boneless in the apartment but it sounds like sex.“Sounds active,” he notes with a quizzical expression on his face. And he doesn’t assume that Clara’s cheating on him, which makes me love these two even more. As the episode comes to a close, we meet Missy one more time as she notes: “Clara. My Clara. I have chosen well.” Oh, dear.

Great Moments Not Mentioned Above:

+“Stopped listening a while ago…”
+Screw Google Glass. That earpiece from the Doctor is swanky.
+I love how the script turns people’s stereotypes about black men and community service onto its head. Clever writing, there.
+“I just picked up the title because it makes me sound important.”
+“Oh he’s a bright one, hang on to him.”
+Psychic blank paper not working
+Clara on Pocket TARDIS: “That is so adorable.” Truer words have never been spoken, Clara.
+“You really throw your companions into the deep-end, don’t you?”
+“This is why we run.”
+The nervous system on the wall is all that was left of the officer
+The Doctor moving the TARDIS on the train tracks
+Clara asserting her authority: “I’m the one chance you’ve got of styling alive.”
The Doctor: “Well done.”
+Clara: “I just hope I can keep them alive.”
The Doctor: “Welcome to my world”
+Clara: “Do you really believe that?”
The Doctor: “I hope that.”
+Clara saving Rigsy from his self-sacrifice
+“What would you do now?…No. What will I do now?”
+“But you were good, and you made a mighty fine Doctor.”

10/10

Spoiler: The Affair 1.02 Two Review

The Affair finally has given us a nibble of its central mystery (not that I’m trying to complain, this is the second episode after all). As was sort of implied last week, someone died but it was never really confirmed, so it was just left up in the air. This week, as Alison reveals towards the close, the death had occurred on a road that was quite tourist-heavy. We don’t know who it is, but the episode basically confirms that it was a male and that’s about it, which is a smart move on the part of the writers as it basically leaves about half of the cast open to doubt. Noah is surprised that it was a murder. “I thought it was an accident!” he blurts to the detective, who offers no reactionary expression to confirm or deny that exclamation. The little differences between Noah’s and Alison’s account continues as the story begins to coalesce more and bring its various characters into each other’s circles. The affair between the two shares its real beginnings here, but it is not as over-dramatic as one might expect. It’s rather quiet, understated, and perfect.

As with the pilot, the episode splits the narrative between Noah and Alison and already I have to make a confession. Dominic West is great, but for the love of God, Noah’s accounts just brim with an overbearing sense of entitlement and annoyance, which I guess is the whole point. Anyhow, the episode opens up with him quietly noting that he had no idea that Alison was married. “She seemed lonely,” he notes and that certainly rings of truth. “I was going out go my way to avoid her,” he adds to the detective, which quickly is revealed to be an absolute farce. No matter what Noah is doing, whether that’s jogging along the docks or trying not to touch his mother-in-law’s precious espresso and coffee maker (“It’s delicate,” she notes and I applaud Noah for not doing the implosive thing and smashing that damn coffee machine or even driving his children to go grab flowers, he’s thinking of Alison. She’s basically anywhere and he can’t truly figure out why. She just exists there and without any effort it seems, she’s entrenched in his memory, to the point where he’s masturbating in the shower to Alison having sex with her husband in the shower, preferring that to showering with his wife. The “I Spy” game he plays with his daughter Stacy is cute. She spies a dress, he spies Alison selling jam. Ah, to be young and naive once more.

Alison’s account as always is a bit more darker and a bit more reserved. Noah is more irritable and moronic in her account and Cole is as always a bit more calmer and kinder. In a moment that’s perhaps a little too much on the nose was almost unfortunately hilarious, she’s riding her bike past a “Dead End” sign, soon to pick up a bucket of dead fish, a metaphor for the burden on her shoulders if there ever was one. She arrives at a little train stop office, finding her friend and noting that Cole always wanted the door to be closed. Her friend is reading Bruce Butler’s Castle of Man, much to her distaste (which apparently is a minority). As she leaves, she looks towards the train platform, noting how she had never thought she would see Noah and his family again. “The summer people come and leave,” she notes. “We might as well be traffic signs to them… We blend in.” But as the narrative propels forward, it’s clear that there was no traffic sign between the two of them as they find each other going to the beach. “Marriage means different things to different people,” she notes before the kisses begin.

Horses come into play this episode and with how everything is laid into place with care (thanks to the efficiency expert, of course), I expect that to come into play sooner than later. Thankfully, Noah and Helen’s children are sort of normal for once, with Stacey learning equestrianism and Max learning how to be a help at the ranch. As it is, Helen used to ride horses there as a young girl, and all of the little brothers have quite grown, one of them catching Whitney’s eyes. But one of the brothers is Cole, whose presence there is certainly going to complicate things but also welcomingly condense the narrative. Speaking of Whitney, the behavior between her and Scotty was completely inappropriate. Her this-is-so-not-subtle flirting of how “loose her hips are” perhaps makes sense for a teenager whose dress is smaller than the principality of Monaco on the world map. But for Scotty to return the flirting (for business reasons, uh-huh) is ridiculous. At the party it goes further, but thankfully it’s stopped.

The party is fantastic, if a honking metaphor for class differences in this small Long Island town. Quick note on how class differences can be perceived, the farmer’s market scene where Noah buys the jam is amazing. Noah remembers being sold a $12 jar of jam but Alison remembers selling five jars for $8 a pop, almost accidentally selling them for $6 apiece. That notable difference in the perception of money. The party itself is an interesting setting that proves that Bruce is an a**hole but also notes that Noah lacks patience (which to be fair, few have with their in-laws, but still). Here the narrative reveals that Bruce had an extramarital affair and he had the nerve to invite his lover to the party. Helen is understandably pissed. Noah finds Alison as a waitress at the party, a much more despicable, airy event from her pony of view. It’s notable that Helen is a lot more aristocratic from Alison’s point of view, but the best moment is when Margaret calls Alison “the poor girl who had lost her baby” (it was apparently in the newspapers) and with about as much tact as a loud orchestra offers her a grand to dump a drink wall over her husband. As with the pilot, the episode begins on Alison in the detective’s office, mulling over the beginning of the actual affair and her driving off into the city. But the final shot is of her going back home. Is she lying or is the show tricking us? Until next week, folks.

Great Moments Not Mentioned Above:

+“Love is all you need.”
+“A macchiato.” I am not looking forward to teenage children who order coffee drinks they probably don’t even know the mixtures of.
+“I spy… disaster.”
+“He’s excited. It’s a miracle.”
+“He’s a ****… That was a rhetorical question.”
+The music is fantastic
+Fiona Apple’s theme song
+The expensive prostitutes quips were hilarious
+“He’s married.”; “Like that ever stopped anyone.”
+“I felt like I had to be strong for them, because if they knew what I was really thinking they’d be terrified of me.”
+The way the camera makes Alison look almost ethereal in Noah’s narrative as she’s in the water and yelling “Join me!” is sublime work.
+Noah advocates for the brown dress, but Helen wears red.
+The sandwich containing Alison’s jam.
+“I love to see that smile.”
+“$8? God bless those summer people.”
+Noah published his second book. Is it called The Affair? Would that be cheesy?

9/10

Spoiler: The Good Wife 6.05 Shiny Objects Review

Carrie Preston’s amazing Elsbeth Tascioni is back and brings back the dubious morality with which Alicia has for so long operated and not given a damn about. Castro may, as she exclaimed with such righteous indignation last week, a bad man but it doesn’t excuse her using such obvious treachery to distract Elsbeth in the courtroom. It’s the practical use of the end justifying the means yet at the same time it doesn’t paint Alicia in the light in any way, shape, or form. This is a more functional episode of The Good Wife, with a case of the week that basically doesn’t go anywhere in the end (that’s where my grade goes down a notch for the episode) but ends in a phenomenal reversal from the beginning of the entire series with an awesome chorus score to boot.

The case of the week relates to sexism and the firing of a tech CEO for being too strict and demanding. The case definitely has a sense of being related to the firing of Jill Abramson from The New York Times and unfortunately feels so palpable it hurts. Women face this unrealistic expectation of rising up in the world and breaking that glass ceiling but by being perfectly matronly the entire way. When men are ruthless, it makes them ambitious. When women are ruthless, they become bitches. It’s frankly a vapid societal construction intended to keep women below men. When it comes to television, it’s the same debate. All the male, white, in their 40s anti-heroes like James Spader (The Blacklist), Enoch Thompson (Boardwalk Empire), Walter White (Breaking Bad), Rust Cohle (True Detective), etc. are seen as generally being a badass and well-defended. But strong women anti-heroes like Carrie Mathison (Homeland) and Alicia Florrick are crazy, unprofessional at times, and “bitchy”. It’s all too familiar to see a woman being on trial for refusing to let go of her strong work ethic for the sake of the company’s idea of how a woman should behave.

In a “little” side story, Diane clicks a malware link that removes all of Florrick Agos’s legal files unless they pay a ransom to someone(s) engaging in ransom ware. This leads to a nice sort of ticking bomb aspect throughout the episode, which gives us more David Lee versus Dianne Lockhart, so kudos for that. Since the decryption key went to Dianne’s Lockhart Gardner e-mail, David tries to use that as a bargaining chip to get something he wants, naturally. As it turns out, Dianne still holds the keys to the LG office leases and David wants those in return. Diane gives her tremendous laugh, getting the key from David anyway with the promise of thinking about the lease. Diane’s malware click and $50,000 payment from all of the partners turns out to be an ironic sort of boon. The encryption keys turn out to be the proverbial keys to the Lockhart Gardner offices. As it is, Dianne hates the Florrick Agos office block as everyone else does and she wants her offices to house her new firm. I’m assuming that Canning and Lee will not take to that kindly.

The best part of this good episode was easily Alicia Florrick’s speech as her introduction to the race for Cook County State’s Attorney. Even in the corridor with her and Peter, there’s a sense of echoing back to the series premiere, where Alicia had slapped him in a similar environment. They argue about the entire dynamic of the speech, which kicks off when Peter doesn’t want to be seen standing behind Alicia in what he presumes to be a weaker position, which is kind of rich of him all things considering. Alicia says that’s okay with an introduction by Finn. And then the fireworks explode. Peter tries to make it all about how much he needs her, but Alicia is equally quick to the jump. “You lose me, your poll numbers plunge through the ground!” she thunders. She doesn’t give a damn about his wounded ego and when he makes a crass joke about her sleeping with Finn, she throws her hands up in the air in a proverbial “**** you.” Finn introduces Alicia and as she gets up to make her speech, Peter appears anyway, getting over his ego quickly enough. He makes his great intro, stepping back into the shadows as the limelight turns to Alicia. It’s a phenomenal reversal from the opening of the series as we see Alicia taking the charge as Peter fades into the background. It’s not the falling down, it’s the staying down. Never give up.

Great Moments Not Mentioned Above:
+What an ugly euphemism “brash management style” has become
+The line about a white man being rewarded for something a woman would get sacked for.
+“What is she objecting to?”
+“I like that broach.”
+Cary’s lunch is sex with Kalinda. Can’t argue with that.

+/-Kalinda and Carey with an “e” using Russian and the pictures of Pussy Riot and anti-Putin protests to implicate their Russian cyber terrorist was pretty awesome at first, if a fairly meh end to a stupid narrative
+/-I didn’t care for Kalinda’s lesbian love story. It felt perfunctory, if necessary to the plot. But what it did bring out was an emotionally complex Kalinda that’s been missing for a while.

7/10

Spoiler: The Knick 1.10 Crutchfield Review

Crutchfield is a sublime hour of television, encapsulating more cinematic storytelling than any other hour ofThe Knick this year. By the end of the hour, the Knickerbocker hospital is gone as we have known it for the past nine or so hours of the narrative. When a board member of the Knick screams “Our chief surgeon is gone, his predecessor killed himself, and the only surgeon left here with a scalpel is a Negro!”, it’s a racist epithet to where the hospital now finds itself. There’s a degree of truth to his statement, as much as it leaves a disgusting taste in one’s mouth. It’s an hour of reckoning that pulls so many of our characters closer but rips most of them apart from one another. And in this sublime hour Steven Soderbergh outdoes himself with his direction. Every camera angle, especially the ones that arrive closer to the episode’s denouement, is shot with such perfection it’s almost hard to believe. Soderbergh might just have written his name all over the Emmys for next year on this one.

Everyone on The Knick has been hiding something or another and certain veils have been lifted over the course of the entire season. But none more so than perhaps this hour, lit under the soft, golden glows of the electric lamps that signal a new age of innovation. Innovation, what arguably drives Dr. Thackery and this entire show forward. But even in this case Dr. Thackery’s light of innovation that he was so sure was so close if not correct was, as Dr. Bertie calls it, “off by a mile.” He was sure that blood types were determined by the size of the blood cells. But as he discovers, the critical component of deterring blood types comes from agglutinating antibodies. Dr. Thackery’s ego is completely torn apart, the sort of madness that resulted in homicide. He was so convinced that he was right that the presence of an anemic patent was the last sort of information he needed to test his theory out and be declared a victor. Unfortunately for basically everyone involved, Dr. Thackery has this brilliant idea that basically involves him transfusing his own blood into the patient. Shockingly enough, that doesn’t work out as well as he had hoped. She’s dead. The Drs. Chickering take him to a physician, where he is listed under his mother’s maiden name, “Crutchfield.” “Time to start getting better,” the physician quips spritely, right before the camera cuts to a shot of Bayer’s heroin pills.


“Go home to what? You were all I had left—now look at you,” Dr. Gallinger spitsafter Dr. Thackery suspends him for assaulting Dr. Edwards and before he storms off. And certainly the same can be said for everyone else. Cornelia’s wedding is hardly any sequence of marital bliss as the union that she had with Dr. Edwards comes crumbling down. “It was our child,” she quips mournfully. But it was more than a child. It was a symbol of the love these two shared and the crumbling society that brought everything down. If she had a child out of wedlock with a white male doctor, it wouldn’t have been the scandal she just prevented. It’s base, despicable how their relationship was torn apart by the color of Dr. Edwards’s skin, something that was far beyond his choosing. They had something, and now look at them. It’s a loss systemic to the societal constructs as a whole, built by archaic authority figures who consistently betray the trust of all those whom they are supposed to be protecting. Two fierce, brilliant, independent lovers thrown out into into the winds like disparate weeds cut from an austerely built lawn, perhaps never to meet again. And the same could be said for our young Dr. Bertie and Nurse Elkins, torn apart by a drugged Dr. Thackery and held together by the simplest of threads spun by cocaine, cotton, and confusion about what they truly want from each other, if anything at all.

Crutchfield may be a beautifully constructed episode, but it is chock full of misery and woe. It makes sense for this season not to end on a happy note and that’s not just because it’s reappearing for a second season. The characters of The Knick, no matter how beloved, despicable, or somewhere in-between, have consistently been digging themselves into various holes. They might have done so out of misery, honor, guilt, vindictiveness, or some random mixture. But they have done so and it’s a series of woe that closes out this final chapter of the series’ first outing. Dr. Thackery finds himself woebegone over the lack of his beloved cocaine, but not to despair, Bayer is here to save the day. Only it’s not aspirin, it’s heroin. Cornelia is going off on what is seemingly going to be a less-than-cheerful honeymoon, the first of her payments to Cleary to cover of her abortion just recently paid. Dr. Edwards foolishly challenges the boxer, the unrequited lover lying forlorn in miserable repose. Collier is murdered by Wu in what is surely one of the most wonderfully choreographed displays of badassery that has ever been filmed. Barrow, initially elated at the news of Collier’s death, finds that he now owes Wu $9,000. And Wu is certainly far less patient. As the season goes out, it even manages to find some sympathy for Dr. Gallinger, suspended from the Knick and torn apart by Eleanor’s madness. And Dr. Bertie, poor Dr. Bertie, realizing the affections Nurse Lucy Elkins has for Dr. Thackery. As for the Knick itself, the ubiquitous talks of moving the hospital uptown seem to be coming to fruition. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, butThe Knick has been changed forever. To be sure, I don’t know what the future of all these characters is goings to be and how many of them will return. But perhaps behind all of those curtains, some light may shine through yet.

Great Moments Not Mentioned Above:

+“You know, it’d be nice if just once in my life a lady wasn’t disappointed to see me.”
+“Everyone gets hungry.”
+“Oh … ow! Yes.”
+“Dreaming is for folks not smart enough to get what they want.”
+“How much more evidence of your absurd behavior do you need?”
+Dr. Hodgman: “My research has shown conclusively that all mental disorders stem from disease and infection polluting the brain. So the teeth and gums are havens for bacteria and sepsis. I believe in this treatment so strongly that I’ve removed my own children’s teeth as a preventative measure.”
+“But you’re …”; “but you’re a pretty, young virgin on the verge of your wedding night.”
+“Bertie the wise!”

10/10

Spoiler: The Legend of Korra 4.03 The Coronation Review

The Coronation is the weakest episode of Korra going all the way back to Book 2, but by no means does this mean that it’s a bad episode at all. It’s just comparatively weaker. It’s a place setting episode and perhaps considering the sheer amount of plot they have to get through in only ten episodes, the speed by which everything goes forward is quite understandable. But Prince Wu, despite Sunil Malhotra’s vocal performance, hasn’t bothered to prove himself as someone whom we should really give a damn about. He’s too over the top and naive to be taken seriously, even for empathy.

And as the episode’s centerpiece, the coronation of Prince Wu as the next King of the Earth Empire unfortunately falls flat, despite PRINCE ZUKO’S DAUGHTER, THE NEW FIRE LORD, in attendance. Kuvira announces the new Earth Empire in a thundering address and for some odd reason, no world leader immediately did anything. It’s just Kuvira’s speech that basically announces her as the new dictator and then the scene cuts away. It’s an odd perfunctory moment for Korra, as if the crew just wanted to get that crucial plot point out of the way so they could run forward with the rest of the season. Perhaps the scene could have gone over better if there was a shot of the world leaders’ reactions after her announcement where they would begin to say something and then thought that patience would be the way forward. It’s not treated entirely as the earth-shattering event that it is.

Toph and Korra are great together and it’s fantastic to see that Toph, even as a grandmother, still has all of the spunk and sass that made her the instant fan favorite when she appeared on screen in Book 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Toph is exactly the sort of tough love mentor that Korra needs in her moments of greatest weakness. As Korra tries to explain to Toph the weight of the role of the Avatar on her, Toph cuts her right through. She’s not having any of the “this world needs me because I’m the Avatar” nonsense. “The world doesn’t need you one bit,” she bites scathingly. And as terrible as it sounds, in a way she’s right. Perhaps more so than the world needing the Avatar for its protection, Korra needs the world to be able to fulfill her own destiny. It’s a different way of looking at the central role of the titular character, but in the harshest of ways logical one. When Korra questions why Toph would want to remove herself so far away from reality, Toph has a response ready for that. “I’m more connected to the world than I’ve ever been,” she retorts quickly. It’s an astonishing feat that Toph can see more than so many by sensing life outside of the swamp by the life that lives within it. I’m excited to see where this connects even more strongly with Korra’s arc going forward. As it is, it turns out that there are metal bits of poison that remain with her that have kept her weak and made her the butt of Toph’s jokes. Toph tries to metalbend them out of her, but Korra’s too tense. What will be the ultimate thing that allows her to let go of all the things that are holding her back.

Kuvira commands the episode and even adds a silver lining to that messy coronation scene where she literally crushes the Kyoshi Medal of Freedom, simultaneously sending about a dozen different metaphors and warnings. “Royalty is archaic. Innovation and technology are what’s necessary,” she says at the coronation in what might be the best dialogue out of the sequence. It’s ironic that that was the sort of defining motive for Zaheer and the Red Lotus gang, against whom Kuvira had so admirably fought. “I always get what I want,” she sneers and kudos to Zelda Williams for making that line hold just the right amount of menace. And the most intriguing match to come is set between Su Lin and Kuvira. Su Lin, as it turns out, kept her city of Zaofu safe while the rest of the Earth Kingdom fell into chaos. It’s baffling, yet at the same time it’s understandable. Su’s responsibility was first and foremost to Zaofu and she kept it safe. As Kuvira claims that conflict is the last thing she wants, Su sneers. “You’re just another tyrant,” Su thunders, noting what happens to cities who refuse to join her. “Then you know what’s coming for Zaofu,” Kuvira notes coldly.

Perhaps the best thing about this episode is how impressively the entire crew is pulling together so many story threads from throughout the entire run of the franchise. Toph’s invention of metal bending arrives in terrifying form here. The Red Lotus storyline is still wreaking havoc, three years later. The spirit vines that had erupted in Book 2 come back in the form of a mysterious weapon being developed for what, we can only guess. And nothing really feels like the creators of the show are pulling at threads here in order to genuinely create something and that is an incredibly impressive feat to pull off. As I’ve thought already about a thousand times, I’m really sad that this is the final season. But to be equally honest, I can’t wait for The Legend of Korra to pull it off with aplomb.

Great Moments Not Mentioned Above:

+“If you want to hug something, go hug a tree.”
+“I see myself in the mirror sometimes and think I’m in trouble before I realize: it’s only me!”
+Boss=Girlfriend, same thing
+“Of all the Avatars I’ve worked with, you’re by far the worst. I know that’s only one other Avatar, but still.”
+“You’re blind compared to me.”
+“My royal broach is a lie!”
+“Enjoy licking the king’s boots…IN YOUR JUNIOR SUITE!”
+Prince Wu: “Carry me?” Mako: “No.”
+“I’m the original Beifong!”
+Bolin, Desmond, and Esca
+Mako’s tough love to Prince Wu is a great parallel to Toph and Korra

8/10

 

Spoilers spoilers everywhere.

I was just board so I looked well now I know if I don't want a thread locked so ya.

Is it just me or whenever I post a thread I am afraid it will be locked.

 

Specifically, on the old IGN boards (before summer 2012), all threads auto-locked after six months without a post. The XenForo boards that we are now on (since September 2012) do not have an auto-lock feature (or else it is turned off), but threads that auto-locked while on the IGN boards remain locked anyway. So basically any thread with no posts since approximately mid-September 2011 (six months prior to the start of the move) will be locked. Anything that's been posted in since then will be open unless it was deliberately locked by a mod for a specific reason.

(Also, hi! Never posted in this forum before until a couple weeks ago. Rebels drew me in. Looking forward to more adventures of the Ghost crew. )

 

Have you watched the clone wars.

 

Hi back.

What other shows do you watch besides Rebels, if you don't mind my asking?

 

Yes, I've seen all of seasons 1 through 5. Haven't see season 6 yet because I don't have Netflix, but I'll probably buy the Blu-ray of it the day it comes out.

Other than live sports, really nothing. There's just nothing out there that interests me. It's tough to get me to try anything (movie, TV show, book, comic, whatever) new that's not Star Wars.

 

Good it is always good to get another fan of the clone wars on here and rebels.

 

That's fine. No worries. Do you have a favorite character from Star Wars?

Also, do you play video games?

 

Anyone here like playing soccer/football.

 

Favorite character? Ben Skywalker. Love his snark, just wish they would have given him some friends his own age.

I do not play video games. The last console I had was a PS2, which I sold in 2007 to help fund the purchase of my first really good computer (before that I used crappy computers from Walmart) in early 2008. And I never got into PC gaming.

 

PS2 was a classic and also most sold gaming console ever.

 

Playing, yes. Watching, not so much ... but my playing times are over. I stopped playing about 11 years ago, and when I think of the last matches, I hardly ever got home without a black eye or a sprained ankle. In the second-to-last match, a teammate even managed to knock me out with a mis-aimed pass (or a well-aimed headshot, however you see it ). They had to carry me to a well to revive me with water. Sheesh, those times ...

 

I knocked my one of my teammates tooth. But ya I don't play almost at all but I sometimes watch the 7 and 8 year olds in my town play.

 

I remember playing actual football with some guys way back in grade 7 and getting my fingers cut open because some guy was wearing a ring and intercepted my catch.

 

Thats why I never played it to deadly.

 

Well, we weren't allowed to tackle each other. But it was more for fun then anything. He still shouldn't have been wearing a ring though.

 

Football is just to slow for my taste.

 

I can understand that. Soccer's quicker. Plus you don't stop everytime someone get's tackled.

 

Soccer is faster because there is only 90 minutes and the clock does not stop for anything except half time and football does not do this.

 

Exactly. Football has to stop every time someone is tackled and then they move forward or backward depending on the yards. It's still fun to play though.

 

Yes it is when your not being tackled but I see why they don't keep the clock running all the time because if they did the game would be like only an hour long.

 

Yeah, that's really true. Plus we have half time. Though it get's really awesome once the super bowl roles around.